A Big Barrel In Which Big Dreams Are Kept
by Starry Roses
Summary: As the Thousand Sunny nears the surface of the New World, the second half of the Grand Line, each crew member of the Straw Hat Pirates renew the vows that they swore to themselves when they were younger. One-shot.


A Big Barrel In Which Big Dreams Are Kept

**A/N: Hi! I got this inspiration while on a 45 minute drive to someplace. After reading someone's fanfic which reminded me that they never did that barrel thing when they were going to the New World but they did it while entering the Grand Line, I decided to do one myself!**

**If any of you got this thought earlier than me and posted it, I apologise in advance. I hope you'll like this one-shot! **_**Ikuzo!**_

As the Thousand Sunny rose to the surface in the company of huge, scarred West Blue whales, the Straw Hat Pirates went about their business; Luffy, Chopper and Usopp were playing hide and seek, Robin was once again immersed in a book, Nami was drawing a map of Fishman Island, Brook was playing Binks' Sake for the whales, Sanji was whipping up a dessert for the ladies and Zoro was napping on the deck. While they were doing these things, Franky brought out a big barrel of sake.

"I thought you guys might like some sake just before we set out to the New World," he explained as he heaved the barrel onto the grass. Zoro's little snot bubble popped and he looked around, noticing the sake. He looked pleased and sauntered casually over to the shipwright.

Just then Sanji came out with dessert. He saw the barrel and his face broke into a grin. "Oi, Franky, how did you know about what we did when we entered the Grand Line?"

Franky looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Oi, Zoro, don't open it yet!" Luffy exclaimed, rushing out from his hiding spot. Chopper immediately tagged him. "You're it!"

Luffy pouted as he realised that he was It. Usopp came out from his hiding spot.

"We should go call everyone. _MINNA_, GET ON THE DECK!" He shouted.

Robin looked up from her book and Brook stopped playing. But the big entrance was yet to come. They didn't have to wait long. A door slammed and everyone grew quiet.

"What is the rush?" Nami asked in a calm, deadly voice. Luffy however, didn't get the hint and danced over to her.

"We're gonna do that mystery thing we did with the barrel!"

"Oh?" she asked, her voice still overlaid with that deadly tone.

"Yeah!"

Chopper raised his hand. "Ne, what are we talking about?"

Usopp pounded a hand on his chest and beamed egotistically. "Allow me, the Great Captain Usopp, to explain!" When we were sailing up Reverse Mountain, I and my crew-"

His twisted explanation was cut off abruptly with Luffy yelling, "I'M THE CAPTAIN!"

Usopp waved him off flippantly. "Hai, hai. As I was saying before this _boy_," he flicked a finger at the rubber boy, "so rudely interrupted me, we placed our legs on a barrel and declared our dreams."

"_Suge_!" Chopper clapped his hands together (technically, they're hoofs) and his eyes turned into stars.

"Oh yeah!" Nami pounded her fist into her palm. "Let's do it again!"

"_Hai_! I read it in the logbook, what you did. It sounds interesting!" Brook said, with his perpetual smile.

"Since we have bounties and are known throughout the Grand Line now, why don't we name our titles and our names this time?" Robin suggested. Everyone agreed, but Usopp seemed to have disappeared.

First was Zoro. A demonic grin appeared on his face as he, placing his hand on the barrel, said, "'Pirate Hunter', Roronoa Zoro. I'll beat Dracule Mihawk and become the world's best swordsman!"

Robin placed her palm on the top of the barrel and winced as she said her title. "'Demon Child', Nico Robin. I'll find the Rio Poneglyph and discover the truth of what happened during the Void Century."

There was a pause as everyone waited for the next person to come up and place their hand on the barrel. Suddenly Chopper let out a squeal and everyone looked up. "It's Sogeking!"

Everyone except Luffy, Chopper and Robin fell over anime style, but Zoro managed to keep his hand on the barrel. Sanji rolled his eye.

"Why doesn't he just admit it?" He muttered under his breath.

Sogeking jumped down. "Since I helped out at Enies Lobby, and Usopp-kun doesn't have a bounty, I thought, as a good friend, I'll do it for him."

Silence.

After a moment, Luffy nodded. Sogeking placed his hand on the barrel, stating proudly, "'Sniper King', Sogeking. I'll be an even braver warrior of the sea!"

Brook placed his skeletal hand on the wooden barrel of sake. "'Dead Bones', Brook. I shall sail around the Grand Line and play for Laboon again and see him! Though I do not have eyes! SKULL JOKE! Yohohoho!"

No one except the usual threesome were amused, and a few seconds later Brook was sporting a new red bump on his head.

Sanji placed his hand on the barrel. "'Black Leg', Sanji. I'll find the All Blue…and find some lovely ladies!" he swooned. Everyone sweat-dropped.

Nami put her hand on the barrel too, noticing that the space for hands was growing limited. "'Cat Burglar', Nami. I'm going to draw a map of the world!"

From Franky's giant hand issued a smaller one, and it was with this hand that Franky used to touch the barrel. "'Cyborg', Franky. I'll see the Thousand Sunny sail on the Grand Line and on the seven seas! I'll watch it become the dream ship with my own eyes!"

Chopper transformed into Heavy Point in order to be tall enough to reach the barrel rim. He put his hoof carefully on the top, making sure he didn't push down too hard and break the barrel. Nami noticed this.

"Ne, Chopper, why did you put it on so carefully?"

Luffy answered the question with simple Luffy reasoning. "Because if he did, he'd break all our dreams too."

Literally, the statement sounded stupid. But if one decided to look deeper, there was a certain profoundness to his words. No one knew if that was intentional or not. But Luffy broke the silence and told Chopper to hurry up.

Chopper gritted his teeth. He didn't like his title. "'Cotton Candy Lover', Tony Tony Chopper." Here he began to sound more excited and thrilled. "I'm going to find the cure to every illness there is in the world!"

Finally it was Luffy's turn. He pounded his hand onto the barrel and shouted to the sea (they were under the sea, so what?), "'Straw Hat', Monkey D. Luffy. I'm gonna be…!"

Just then the whales cried their cry. When they were finished, Luffy was smiling and laughing madly. "Shishishishi!"

"BAKA!" Nami hit him over the head with her free hand. "Why didn't you finish you sentence?! Finish it now!"

Luffy pouted, but soon enough his trademark grin plastered itself onto his face again and his other hand felt at the straw hat Shanks had given to him. He remembered everyone who had believed – and still did- in his dream, believed that he could do it. And he would. For Vivi, Coby, Iceburg, Caimie, Dalton, Hancock, Jimbei, Makino, Shanks…for his crew. He would go through with his dream, for their sakes. For Sabo, who died before ever knowing freedom. And for Ace.

He shouted once more to the world, "I'LL BE THE PIRATE KING!"

His crew grinned proudly and the Mugiwara no Ichimi turned their heads to greet the New World. The ship broke the surface. The resin bubble popped, leaving the pirates to be drenched in the never-ending rain that blessed the Maubeugamour Sea. However, the pirates were not deterred, and they raised their fists and bumped them against each other, not unsimilar in the way they would crash their mugs of alcohol together and yell, "_Kanpai_!"

"Let's go…to the New World!"

**A/N: I hope you liked it and no one was OOC or anything. I'm just going to comment on a few things I wrote first…**

**I'm not too sure why I made everyone name themselves. A spur of the moment, perhaps? I'll take it out if you guys don't like it in there.**

**Yes, it's entirely possible that Robin could have just sprouted a hand. But I wanted her to do it herself. You readers know what I mean, right? Why, you ask? I believe the reason is that Robin will accomplish her dream, and she doesn't need to use any special weapons or whatever to do it. If she used her Akuma no Mi powers to sprout a hand on the barrel, then it kind of feels like something/someone else is doing it for her. Yeah, I know it's a part of her own body, but still. If you don't get what I mean, then don't worry. It's no chip off my shoulder.**

**I thought, since Usopp technically doesn't have a bounty or anything, Sogeking should do it for him (even if Usopp's alter-ego is not really part of the crew). And if Usopp had said his bounty name, everyone (ie. Luffy and Chopper) would have found out. So, I decided to use Sogeking. If anyone has any better ideas, please PM me. **_**Arigato**_**.**

**Luffy's reasoning…I decided I wanted to put a meaning to his seemingly pointless and dumb words for once. He can think, you know. (yeah, we know. But he doesn't do it that much.)**

**Should I mention Chopper's seemingly impossible dream of bringing back the dead?**

'**Cried their cry'. That sounds weird. Anyone wanna advise me on a better phrase?**

**Did you notice what I did with Luffy? I thought, since Luffy didn't actually declare his dream on that day with Ace and Sabo, I'd finish it off for him.**

**Mm…I still harbour some hope that Sabo did survive that incident with the Tenryuubito. But since right now they're still assuming he's dead, I'll just go along with it.**

**I'm not bothered to do the manga part, where they come up near Punk Hazard, so I'll put where they come up in the anime. And I decided to throw in a bit of irony/sarcasm when I typed 'blessed'.**

**That last line could have been said by anyone. Luffy, Nami, Zoro, maybe even all of them. I'll let you decided for yourself.**

**Had to make a change or two because I forgot to put in Franky and Brook's titles.**

**I'll finish this very long author's note now. I had fun writing this little baby, and I kind of enjoyed typing up that little bit of drabble with Luffy's thoughts.**

**To all those who read the first chapter of my Sailor Moon fanfic. SORRY, SORRY, GOMEN! I have actually typed up the next two chapters, but for some idiotic reason I saved it onto another laptop which I cannot get to and it won't let me transfer it onto a USB, I can't update! So, I hope you'll be patient with me and ONEGAI! Don't give up on me!**


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